The ten most pirated movies and TV shows of 2012

As we approach the end of 2012, the folks over at TorrentFreak have put together their annual lists of the most pirated movies and TV shows from the past twelve months, which is based upon the number of illegal downloads from various torrent sites.

Despite the inclusion of box office behemoths such as The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, the found footage comedy Project X was the most pirated movie of the year with an estimated 8,720,000 (and also the lowest-grossing release to feature in the top ten), while HBO's epic fantasy series Game of Thrones overtook Dexter to become the most-downloaded TV show of 2012, peaking at 4,280,000 downloads for a single episode.

Here's the ten most downloaded movies of 2012, along with the estimated number of downloads and North American box office grosses:

1. Project X - 8,720,000 downloads, $100,931,865 US gross
2. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol - 8,500,000 downloads, $694,713,380 US gross
3. The Dark Knight Rises - 8,230,000 downloads, $1,081,041,287 US gross
4. The Avengers - 8,110,000 downloads, $1,511,757,910 US gross
5. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - 7,850,000 downloads, $543,848,418 US gross
6. 21 Jump Street - 7,590,000 downloads, $201,585,328 US gross
7. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - 7,420,000 downloads, $232,617,430 US gross
8. The Dictator - 7,330,000 downloads, $177,547,352 US gross
9. Ice Age: Continental Drift - 6,960,000 downloads, $875,093,094 US gross
10. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - 6,740,000 downloads, $712,171,856 US gross

And here are the ten most pirated TV shows of 2012, along with the estimated number of single episode downloads, and estimated total US TV audience for each show:

1. Game of Thrones - 4,280,000 downloads, 4,200,000 total US viewers
2. Dexter - 3,850,000 downloads, 2,750,000 total US viewers
3. The Big Bang Theory - 3,200,000 downloads, 15,820,000 total US viewers
4. How I Met Your Mother - 2,960,000 downloads, 10,140,000 total US viewers
5. Breaking Bad - 2,580,000 downloads, 2,980,000 total US viewers
6. The Walking Dead - 2,550,000 downloads, 10,870,000 total US viewers
7. Homeland - 2,400,000 downloads, 2,360,000 total US viewers
8. House - 2,340,000 downloads, 9,780,000 total US viewers
9. Fringe - 2,280,000 downloads, 3,120,000 total US viewers
10. Revolution - 2,130,000, 11,650,000 total US viewers